


Please, Return to Me

by TheatrePhantom



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Tragedy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Violence, Canon-Typical Violence, Crying, Friendship/Love, Gen, Heavy Angst, IN SPACE!, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Men Crying, Minor Violence, Non-Graphic Violence, Not Really Character Death, Outer Space, Temporary Character Death, Violence, ZADF, ZaDr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:14:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26472466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheatrePhantom/pseuds/TheatrePhantom
Summary: After what feels like an eternity without him, Zim still keeps Dib's trenchcoat around.
Relationships: Dib & Zim (Invader Zim), Dib/Zim (Invader Zim)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 56





	Please, Return to Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Aifizao](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aifizao/gifts), [Lilydragon_artist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilydragon_artist/gifts).



There was no wind in the vast expanse of space to bring chills down Zim’s spine, but that did nothing to ward off the coldness that he felt within. In a vain attempt to ward off the deep feeling of frigidness, Zim tugged the long trenchcoat draped over his shoulders around himself more tightly. 

Dib’s iconic trenchcoat was a little too big for Zim. Considering the Irken was still smaller than him, despite growing since landing on Earth (the change in gravity making it easier), it didn’t fit him quite right, leaving the trenchcoat fairly baggy on him. Zim kept the sleeves cuffed several times to prevent them from hanging off his wrists. Even so, it was big and warm and reminded him of his dearly beloved nemesis. 

The Irken pressed the soft fabric of the coat closer to him, fluttering his antennae against it in an attempt to take in the scent. When he had first begun wearing the coat every day, he could still smell Dib within the fibres of the fabric. The scent had given him some stupid hope that he would be able to see the idiotic human once more in the future. It had reminded him of their time spent together on Earth and in the vast expanse of space. It brought him back to the comfort he found in the human’s arms and the fun he had at his side. It reminded him of how the human had inspired him in so many ways. How they had climbed and fought their way through so much together. Zim had been alive for thousands of years, but the most alive he felt was when he was adventuring at the side of the strange human- the human that had taught him he was not worthless and not alone, despite everything his kind had said and done to him. 

Now, though, the scent had faded so much that Zim could hardly even imagine it anymore. 

Perhaps the passage of time and the steadily fading scent should have reminded him that, unlike he was, Dib was not immortal nor unbreakable. It would be far easier to kill a human than it would be to kill and Irken- even if that human was none other than  _ Dib _ . Far too much time had passed and the wounds that Zim had seen inflicted upon him were far too intense for a human to survive unless given immediate medical attention. The chances of Dib still being alive after everything that had happened was slim to none and the fact that Dib’s coat hardly even smelled of him anymore was a painful reminder that that was the case.

Zim didn’t know what to do. 

It wasn’t as though he couldn’t live without Dib or that he had built his life around the human, but he  _ had _ grown awfully attached to him. After everything that they had been through, how could he be expected not to? They had been by one another’s side for some of the most difficult times of both of their lives and they had been there to cheer one another on when they were experiencing some of the best moments, conversely. Their friendship was strange, but their bond was pure and intense. 

Losing Dib so suddenly  _ hurt _ . 

Zim loved the human. In spite of everything they had gone through together- or perhaps because of it- he loved him. The human inspired emotions within him that Zim had never felt before. He had shown him parts of life he had never seen and Zim had done the same for Dib. Zim had never forged a bond nor friendship as strong as the one he had forged with Dib and he didn’t think he would ever find a friendship that surpassed what they had had, while Dib was still around.

The Irken was in love with the human and, now he was gone forever. Zim would never be able to see him again and it was completely his fault. 

Perhaps it wasn’t entirely the fault of Zim, but there was so much that he could have done differently. He should have done more to protect Dib. Despite how powerful and capable he was, he  _ was _ only human, after all, and a human was no match for forces as powerful as the one they had encountered that terrible day. Zim could have  _ stopped _ it, he could have  _ protected _ Dib. If only he had been faster or had made the decision to steer away from the danger rather than leading them into it head-on. If he were smarter, they could have avoided the situation entirely. They could still be floating through space together, joking around while cradled in one another’s arms and pondering where they would go next.

But Zim  _ hadn’t _ done any of that. He hadn’t changed their course, or fought harder to protect Dib, or sacrificed himself for the human, or come up with some ingenious plan to get them both out of there without harm. He had  _ allowed _ it to happen. 

And now they were both suffering the consequences of his actions. 

“Computer, set course for-”

Without missing a beat, Computer interrupted him, “Do you  _ really _ want to go back there?” Zim had gone back to the place of Dib’s death so many times with so little in between that Computer didn’t need to listen to him to know what it was he wanted. 

“ _ Yes _ .”

“Master, that isn’t going to change anything-”

“I  _ know _ that.”

“Then why do you keep going back there?”

They both knew why. Despite  _ knowing _ that Dib had died- despite  _ seeing _ that happen to him- Zim wanted to believe that he would be able to go back there and see his human once more. He wanted to be able to believe that he could see him again and that he would be completely well and unharmed. It was completely impossible, entirely illogical, and Zim knew that. He knew that, no matter how many times he went back there, he would never be able to see Dib again- not alive, anyways (although, he had gone there so many times, now, that, if his corpse was still there, he probably would have found him already). Zim knew he would never be able to see his human companion ever again. 

That didn’t stop him from wishing, though. 

Zim had never been one for wishing on shooting stars- although that wasn’t really a thing on Irk to begin with. He had always believed wishing to be a foolish practice. The only way to ever get what you wanted was to put forth every ounce of effort and work hard for it. Wishing was useless, acting was not. 

Still, he found himself wishing, for the first time ever. He felt too lost to keep himself from doing so. He still knew that it was ridiculous, but it was all he had- it was his only option. There was nothing else he could do.

Well, there was  _ one _ thing he could do… 

“Fine,” Zim turned and marched over to the control panel, inputting a different location. It wasn’t an entirely random location, but it was one that he, surprisingly, had not gone to on many occasions since the incident involving Dib’s death. 

It was the base planet of those who had killed him. 

Computer sighed but gave in. There was very little he could do to convince Zim otherwise, so he didn’t see much point in trying more than he already had. 

Zim scowled out the window of the ship as they made their way there. Wishing did nothing, but  _ acting  _ did something. This wouldn’t bring Dib back- Zim wasn’t stupid enough to believe that- but maybe vengeance would make him feel better about what had happened. 

The Irken clenched his hands into fists, digging his sharp claws into his palms.

He would make them pay for what they had done to Dib.

~~~

None of the other trips Zim had made there had been very successful. He had never been able to kill all of the people involved as he had wanted to. The most he had done was inflict some injury upon them and work out the layout and weaknesses of their base- which  _ was _ helpful to his new mission, but not exactly what he had wanted any of the times he had gone there. 

The amount of rage Zim harboured for them had not faded in the slightest, despite the time that had passed. This time, though, he had more information and power on his side. He had been able to prepare more thoroughly. Zim stood a fighting chance against them, and, even if he wasn’t able to kill every single one of them who had been there that day, he wasn’t going to let them get away with killing Dib without a fight. He was going to inflict as much pain and chaos as possible while he was there. He wanted to ruin them as much as they had ruined him. 

Zim didn’t hesitate. The moment the ship landed, he opened the door and stepped out. Maybe it was because he had been thinking about Dib for such a long time on their flight there, but his anger had warped into something strange, at the moment. Numb violence filled him deep within. He couldn’t be bothered to care about what happened to him. 

Despite all of the planning and pondering Zim had done between back then and now, he felt himself completely abandoning his plan. At this point, he didn’t care what happened to himself on the mission. What was the point of stealth if you didn’t care about whether or not you were discovered?

Zim was about to make an admittedly moronic decision to run in thoughtlessly when a loud explosion from within broke him from his trance-like state and demanded his attention. The explosion hadn’t been a very big one- nothing that was intense enough to destroy the building. Instead, it was controlled and enclosed in some way, keeping it to a smaller space. Regardless, if the sound of the explosion combined with the screams following after it was any indication, the explosion had been a strong one. 

His antennae quirked up for a moment, intrigued, but he didn’t let himself linger outside for too long. Instead, he ran forward, bursting through the front doors rather than the less busy passageway he had planned on taking when he initially thought about his plot for revenge. 

Dust and smoke swirled through the air, mingling with the tangy scent of blood and the intense sound of screams. Whatever it was that was causing such a ruckus against them was going some decent damage. That didn’t stop the creatures from lashing back out at it, though. 

Zim didn’t let himself think about the situation too deeply. He didn’t care what it was that had infiltrated their lair and was now currently attacking them. Whatever it was was actively helping him, causing a big enough distraction for him to easily attack whoever they didn’t manage to get to. For now, they were helping Zim, and, if they ended up being some powerful force out to kill him, too, he would fight back against them after this. 

For now, though, he focused on his vengeful killing spree. 

Hoisting himself up onto his PAK legs to get a better vantage point, he extended the weapons held within. He shot lasers and canons with reckless abandon, racing around on his spindly PAK legs as he did so. His PAK was buzzing softly from the intensity of the work he was putting it through after so long of him not using it, but Zim ignored it entirely, not caring what happened to it. He had more important things to focus on, and, currently, he was completing his mission far better than he had anticipated. 

Zim had imagined that he would feel differently about the entire situation. He had anticipated savouring the sound of their pained, terrified screams ringing through his ears and the delicious taste of their blood hanging thickly in the air. He thought there would be some sort of sick, twisted pleasure and joy coming from the action- or, at the very least, some  _ relief _ . 

As the smoke began to clear from the air, allowing him to see better, and the sounds of screaming and choking on blood faded into nothingness, Zim realized that he felt none of that. There was no joy or relief or excitement. He felt absolutely nothing. His emotional state hadn’t improved in the slightest. There was just... numbness.

He stared down at a puddle of sickly purple blood pooling at his feet, the colour slowly morphing into a black as the lifeforce that once ran through the blood faded entirely. The sight made him feel nothing and he found himself getting lost in the swirling pool of purple and black, the deeper hue slowly overcoming the lighter ones. 

That is, until, yet again, an abrupt sound snapped him from his brooding thoughts. 

“Zim?” The voice sounded distant, and the Irken soldier almost believed that he had imagined it, at first, “Zim!”

He whirled around to face the sound as it finally broke through the mental fog that had wrapped itself around him. The moment he did, the lekku that had previously been pinned back against his skull in a mixture of deep sadness and overwhelming anger that refused to fade even after everything lifted, perking up in surprise at the sight before him.

A slightly scraggy-looking, lean, tall person stood mere metres away from Zim, glasses smudged with a substance that was also streaked across his skin and clothes. The black jeans and blue sweater hung somewhat loosely on the human, each article of clothing battered by the elements. 

It seemed impossible, but the stupid scythe-like cowlick protruding from his head and the glinting amber eyes he knew so well lead him to believe it was more than just a ghost he was seeing. 

“Dib…?” 

He let out a huff of laughter, a small smile beginning to form, “Yeah.”

This wasn’t real- it couldn’t be. Everything that Zim knew told him that this wasn’t truly happening, that this was just some terrible dream that plagued him during a moment he let sleep take over him, not from exhaustion but from sadness, or some twisted hallucination. As far as Zim was concerned, this could only be a cruel trick played by whatever beings controlled the universe as they knew it.

Even so, he rushed forward without another thought. He threw his arms around the human and tugged him against his chest immediately, burying his face in Dib’s neck and curling around him as best he could. He held the human tightly, doing everything he could to bring them as close as possible as if trying to make up for the distance they had suffered through for such a long time. As he buried his face into Dib’s collarbone, antennae curling around him slightly as well, he was hit with the scent he knew so well and that he had been clinging to ever since he had gotten his claws on the trenchcoat but not the person who was supposed to be wearing it. 

The sensation of arms tightly wrapped around him and the feeling of the human’s face pressed up against his own head for the sake of closeness combined with the obvious scent he had known for years pushed him over the edge. Tears spilt from his eyes and would have streamed down his face like a waterfall were it not smushed up against Dib’s shoulder and chest, forcing the tears to simple seep into his shirt instead. His entire body trembled as he felt, heard, and smelled the human that he had been separated from for so long. 

_ This was real _ . 

A tiny noise tore its way from Dib’s throat and Zim could feel the rumbles of it reverberate through his chest as the human let out a soft sob. A splash of tears hit the top of Zim’s head and, despite not wanting to break the close contact that he had lacked and yearned for for such a long time, Zim tilted his head up slightly to look at the human. 

Zim reached up to brushed away the tears that dripped down Dib’s cheeks freely- something Zim had rarely seen in the past, “I’ve missed you, Dib…”

Dib let out a shaky, watery laugh as he met Zim’s gaze, closing one eye slightly as Zim’s claws gently danced over his cheekbone, wiping away his tears, “I missed you, too, Space Boy.”

A small, trembling smile crossed Zim’s face.

His Dib was finally back. 

**Author's Note:**

> I asked on my Tumblr who wanted this and two people said they did but that was more than enough for me to go buck-wild with this concept. LADKjdsf.
> 
> Link to the Tumblr post I was inspired by: https://th3atr3phant0m.tumblr.com/post/628924727132651520/lilydragonartist-roleplayer-recapkid-no-srsly


End file.
